A Crack In The Glass Ceiling: Nagaland To Get First Woman Rajya Sabha MP

Konyak, the consensus candidate of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), will be the first BJP member from Nagaland to be sent to Parliament.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S Phangnon Konyak (Twitter: @AlongImna)

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S Phangnon Konyak will be the first woman Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland as she filed her nomination on Monday morning in the presence of Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and BJP state president Temjen Imna Along.

Konyak, the consensus candidate of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), will likewise be the first BJP member from Nagaland to be sent to Parliament.

Naga People's Front (NPF), which had communicated "strong determination" to handle an applicant despite being a part of the UDA -- which runs an opposition-less government in the state, pulled out at the last moment.

Elections for Nagaland's lone seat were to be held on March 31, but Konyak was elected unopposed from this seat. However, the BJP had a total of 35 MLAs in the 60-member assembly along with its partner NDPP. The assembly has 25 members of the Naga People's Front (NPF), which met on Saturday to decide whether to support Konyak or field a separate candidate, but the meeting was inconclusive.

On Saturday, NPF president Shurhozelie Liezietsu had written to its legislature party to consider selecting its functioning president and previous home minister Thenucho Tunyi for the election.

Since Nagaland came into being as a state in 1963, only one woman MP, Rano M Shija, has been elected. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977 as an independent candidate. To date no woman MLA has been elected in the Nagaland Assembly. 

However, the working committee and the legislative wing of the NPF failed to arrive at a resolution till Sunday, party sources said.

On the letter by Liezietsu, NPF's legislature party secretary Chumben Murry said, "The UDA government was formed on the understanding of pursuing Naga political issue for a negotiated solution at the earliest. Consequent upon which one of the NPF MLA was inducted in the Cabinet along with chairman UDA.

Speaking to reporters, an elated Konyak offered thanks to the BJP for nominating her. "BJP is a party which believes in women empowerment and there is a lot of hope in the party," she said.

Asked about her priorities as the first woman Rajya Sabha member from the state, she said she would settle on it after deliberating with the chosen representatives of the state.

"Women comprise 50 percent of the electorate. While Naga women have been very actively involved in politics but were not forthcoming to contest the elections," she said, urging them to come forward to fight elections.

BJP Nagaland president Temjen Imna Along said that his party got the Rajya Sabha seat as part of an agreement with NDPP, ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.

"We look forward to working more for women empowerment in the days to come," said Along, adding that there were nine ticket hopefuls but only the woman candidate was selected by the party's central leadership.

Earlier on Friday, the BJP announced the candidature of Agnimitra Paul for the Asansol Lok Sabha by-election in West Bengal and Baby Kumari for the Bochahan Assembly by-election from Bihar. Paul will contest against Trinamool Congress candidate and former BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha.

(With PTI inputs)